A cornice above a window does a lot more than add a handsome decorative element to a room. A window topper can make a window appear larger than it is and conceal the less than lovely headrail of a drapery or shade, so you get a lot of bang for your decorating buck by adding one. You'll find easy to make kits for fabric-covered cornices, but those made of wood are usually custom made. Don't let the word "custom" scare you. Online we found high-quality yet relatively inexpensive wood cornices that add architectural appeal to even the most ordinary room.

At www.smithandnoble.com we found a 40-inch wide all-wood cornice for $85 plus shipping. You can hire a handyman to install it for an additional $48 or do it yourself and save the installation cost. You'll find a nice selection cornice sizes, styles and finishes and each one comes with brackets and hardware that you attach to the wall.

When layering a cornice over a window treatment, make sure to measure its depth to order a cornice that will be deep enough to clear it. When measuring, order a cornice 1 inch wider than any outside mounted window treatment or molding that will be covered.

The average price to install a wood window cornice noted above is cost data to compare a contractor’s estimate with doing it yourself. Tweak the data by adding your ZIP Code to find a local cost.

Improvement and Repair Cost Updated 2019

The cost and time data is generated by averaging labor and material data from annually updated cost books used by contractors and refined by the authors'
experience remodeling 13 houses. They are authors of 20 home improvement books and Do It Yourself or Not, a weekly column syndicated by Tribune Content
Agency. The national cost can be adjusted by ZIP Code.